Francis Ngannou’s coach defends pupil against Dana White’s latest attacks
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s longtime coach wants to see Dana White and his pupil call a truce on their ongoing feud.
The longstanding beef between UFC CEO Dana White and former heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou remains as tense as ever, years after their feud led to Ngannou parting ways with the promotion. Ngannou signed with the PFL in 2023 after a long contract dispute with White and the UFC.
Things between Ngannou and White have remained tense for years, including most recently when White accused Ngannou of getting physical with him during a meeting in his UFC office. In response to White’s allegations, Ngannou didn’t firmly deny the claims, reigniting their feud.
As Ngannou ponders what’s next for him in his fighting career, Ngannou’s longtime ally wants to see him and White bury the hatchet.
Eric Nicksick publicly calls for Francis Ngannou and Dana White to ‘bury the hatchet’
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Ngannou’s longtime coach Eric Nicksick reacted to the latest comments from White about his fallout with the former UFC heavyweight champ.
“I think that my relationship with certain individuals are different than the relationship with other people,” Nicksick said of Ngannou. “I know what Francis brings to me and my family, and the way that he treats me, and that’s the way I judge him by his character. Same with Dana. Dana’s been nothing but nice and great to me. I wish that somewhere down the line that these two could mend those fences, just on a personal level. I’d rather have friends than enemies, and at the end of the day, I hope that these guys can reconcile and put away their differences.
“But when I look at it, too, it’s almost like, just let him continue to live his life. We don’t need to continue to talk about this s—. This, whatever happened, was probably almost seven, eight years ago. Why are we bringing up old s— like that, you know? And I think it’s just, in a lot of ways, it’s, I don’t know—This is my personal opinion: I feel like deep down, Dana does like Francis, and I think that he does miss the fact that they would like to have him on that roster because of where the heavyweight division is at now in the landscape of it,” Nicksick continued on Ngannou.
“Hopefully, at some point, those two can sit down man to man and just let all this shit go. Why do you want to carry that energy?”
Ngannou has called for a potential return to the UFC for a matchup with Jon Jones, although White has repeatedly declined the possible reunion.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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